So close: Miami Heat not the only ones to almost break a record

By Chelsea J. Carter and Lateef Mungin, CNN

Updated 2:44 AM ET, Fri March 29, 2013

Near-record streaks 8 photos

Near-record streaks – Carlos Boozer of the Chicago Bulls shoots over the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh on March 27, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won the game 101-97 to stop the Heat's 26 game winning streak.

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Near-record streaks 8 photos

Near-record streaks – Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were two minutes from being the first team to go undefeated through a 16-game regular season and the playoffs. The New York Giants stages a late comeback in the 2008 Super Bowl to dash their hopes.

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Near-record streaks 8 photos

Near-record streaks – Tiger Woods, right, shakes hands with Nick O'Hern of Australia after O'Hern beat him in the third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships on February 23, 2007 in Marana, Arizona. The loss ended Woods' streak of seven straight victories.

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The Miami Heat went cold after 27 consecutive winning games and failed to match the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers' winning streak of 33. The Heat joins many others in and out of sports that have come oh-so-close to the record books.

Here are a few examples:

- The New England Patriots fell painfully short of being the second NFL team to ever go through a whole season without losing. The Pats were just two minutes away from winning the Super Bowl in 2008 when New York Giants pulled a miraculous comeback. If the Pats won that game, they would have joined the 1972 Dolphins as the only NFL teams to have a perfect season.

- Tiger Woods won seven consecutive PGA Tour events from July 2006 to January 2007. He botched a chance to win an eighth event when he missed a short birdie putt that would have clinched a victory in the third round of a match play tournament. Byron Nelson won 11 straight Tour tournaments in 1945.

Streaks of significance 11 photos

Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – LeBron James and the Miami Heat saw their winning streak end at 27 games with at 101-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. They were six games short of the NBA record. Check out these other streaks of significance.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – An ultra-marathoner treks through the unforgiving landscape of Death Valley, California, where the high temperature topped 100 degrees for 154 straight days in summer 2001.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – The University of Connecticut women's basketball team surpassed even John Wooden's UCLA men's hoops squads of the 1970s by reeling off a record-setting 90 consecutive wins.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – "American Idol" was Nielsen's top-rated TV show in the United States for eight years running, longer than any other program in history.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – While other countries have been beset by recessions, Australia's economy has continued to grow for the last 21 years, more than twice as long as any other advanced economy.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – Enrique Pena Nieto's rise to the presidency ended a 12-year drought for Mexico's PRI party, which until 2000 had won 12 straight national elections over 71 years.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – Joe DiMaggio's magical 56-game hit streak in 1941 still stands and helped cement him as a legend in not only baseball, but American lore.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – Before there was LeBron James, there was Jahangir Khan, right, a Pakistani squash player who amassed a record 555 consecutive wins between 1981 and 1986.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – It took 136 years for Alabama voters to put Republicans in charge of both chambers of the state legislature, which they did after the November 2010 elections.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – "One Sweet Day," by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks, longer than any other single in the chart's 54-year history.

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Streaks of significance11 photos

Streaks of significance – Susan Lucci holds her Daytime Emmy Award in 1999, which she won after losing in the same category 18 consecutive times.

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EXPAND GALLERY

-This year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went on a winning streak over 10 consecutive trading sessions, which ended on March 15 when the Dow fell roughly 25 points or 0.2%. It came close to the longest win streak on record of 13 trading sessions in 1987.

- Pete Rose had a 44-game hit streak in 1978 that ended against the Atlanta Braves and reliever Gene Garber. After the game, Rose, still 12 games away from Joe DiMaggio's major-league record, fumed that Garber didn't throw fastballs to strike him out. Garber got him out with a slow changeup.

-The New York Mets' R.A. Dickey took a run in 2012 at Orel Hershiser's record (set in 1988) of 59 consecutive scoreless innings. Dickey threw 44.2 consecutive scoreless innings from May 22 to June 24 last year.

-The Detroit Lions made a run during the 2008-2009 season at the record for most consecutive games lost. They lost 19, finishing second behind the 1976-1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers who lost 26 consecutive games in a row.

- Speaking of infamous records, the Charlotte Bobcats came within three games of tying the NBA record of most losses in a row. The embattled team lost 23 straight games at the end of the 2011-12 season. They began the 2012-13 season with a victory over the Indiana Pacers, leaving them three losses short of the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers.